Workshops

:: UPCOMING WORKSHOPS ::

*Pending VCF Approval

Full-Day Workshop

Seminar: Picture Exchange Communication System – Level 2 (Advanced)

** Attendance at a PECS Level 1 Workshop is a pre-requisite for this workshop

Learn about strategies for incorporating PECS across an entire day within functional contexts, with expectations for the student to use language beyond single picture requests. Specifically, ‘advanced’ PECS lessons that teach a variety of linguistic concepts and grammatical structures will be described. Selection of appropriate targets, creation of functional lessons, and strategies for incorporating PECS will be discussed.

Dates:

17 and 18 Jun 2019 (Mon and Tue)

Time:

8:30am - 5pm

Venue:

Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium.317 Outram RoadSingapore 169075

Speakers: Sophie Kerr

Sophie Kerr, BAppSci. (Disability Studies) (Honours) BEd, has worked in the field of disability in various capacities for the past 10 years with both children and adults whose disabilities rang from cerebral palsy to traumatic brain injury.Sophie's major focus over this time has been working with children on the autism spectrum aged between 2 and 14 years within Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) programs both in Australia and the UK. She has worked on an eclectic range of programs which have incorporated various interventions including picture communication, social skills development, speech and language development, motor skill development and sensory integration. Sophie joined Pyramid Educational Consultants of Australia in 2008. She has implemented PECS in her clinical work with numerous individuals with autism and related disabilities.

Course Outline

Attendance at a PECS Level 1 Workshop is a pre-requisite for this workshop.

Day 1:

This day focuses on a thorough review of how to implement each phase of PECS. The most common implementation problems, including discrimination difficulties, and cutting edge problem solving strategies will be addressed. Participants will practice their PECS skills under the guidance of a Pyramid consultant, troubleshoot their personal implementation issues, and watch video examples of PECS lessons. Participants are encouraged to share their own successful and difficult cases. The aim is to respond to the difficult cases in a manner that does not simply “fix” the situation, but results in successful problem solving.

Day 2:

This day explores incorporation of communication, advanced language and PECS implementation throughout the day. Both receptive and expressive communication skills are explored, with a focus on implementing these skills into a variety of functional activities. Ideas for advanced language lessons for learners using any modality (i.e. voice output systems, sign language, speech, etc.) are discussed. The day ends with information specifically related to incorporating PECS opportunities throughout the day. Concepts are explored through a combination of videos, discussions and small group activities.

Course Objectives

How to analyse common difficulties with PECS implementation

How to generate solutions to difficult PECS implementation situations

How to analyse a classroom day and learn to program communication opportunities into all activities

Who Can Benefit?

Speech pathologists, psychologists, parents/carers, occupational therapists, support staff, behavior analysts, program administrators, supervisors who have experience in implementing PECS and are familiar with training protocol, teachers in special education or mainstream setting working with children, adolescents and adults with limited communication skills (including autism).